A department report said the total volume of exports rose by 314,000 tons or three percent from 11.49 million tons to 11.81 million tons.
It said petrochemicals topped the list of Saudi exports as it valued SR15.3 billion, adding that it showed 59 percent rise compared to the third quarter of 2010.
Plastic products came second with SR13.87 billion (with an increase of 34 percent), followed by foodstuffs SR2.98 billion (12 percent rise) and re-exports SR4.7 billion (six percent increase).
The report comes at a time when the Saudi government has intensified its efforts to strengthen the industrial sector, which achieved a record growth rate of 15 percent in 2011.
The newly appointed Commerce and Industry Minister Tawfiq Alrabiah, former director general of Saudi Industrial Property Authority, has vowed to bolster the sector further as part of the Kingdom’s diversification drive.
According to the report, China topped the list of importers from Saudi Arabia during Q3 as it received products worth SR5.6 billion or 13 percent of the total exports, followed by the UAE SR4.16 billion or 10 percent and Singapore SR2.97 billion or 7 percent.
India came fourth among importers from the Kingdom as it received products valued at SR2.42 billion or 6 percent of the total Saudi exports while other countries received goods worth SR27.7 billion or 64 percent.
“Non-Arab and non-Islamic Asian countries received 35 percent of Saudi exports valued at SR14.9 billion during the period,” the report pointed out.
The Gulf Cooperation Council states were the second largest recipients of Saudi products valued at SR8.46 billion or 20 percent of the total, followed by other Arab countries SR6.66 billion or 16 percent and the European Union SR5.23 billion or 12 percent of the total exports.
The value of Saudi imports during the period declined by 3 percent to reach SR96.79 billion against SR100 billion during Q3 of 2010.
The volume of imports dropped by 27 percent from 15.5 million to 11.24 million tons, the report added.
Equipment, machinery and electrical utensils topped the list of Saudi imports during Q3 as they valued SR26.3 billion or 27 percent of total imports, followed by transport materials worth SR14.75 billion or 15 percent and foodstuffs SR14.17 billion or 14.6 percent.
China remained the largest exporter to the Kingdom sending goods worth SR15.7 billion or 16 percent of the total Saudi imports, followed by the SR10.95 billion or 11 percent, Germany SR6.6 billion or 7 percent, Japan SR6.55 billion or 6.5 percent.
Non-Arab and non-Islamic Asian countries topped the list of exporters to the Kingdom during Q3 with their exports valuing SR35.46 billion or 36 percent followed by the European Union SR24.73 billion or 26 percent, North America SR12.18 billion or 13 percent and the GCC SR7 billion or 7 percent.
Speaking about the Saudi-GCC trade during the period, the report said Saudi imports from the GCC stood at SR7 billion while Saudi exports to the GCC valued at SR6.95 billion registering 18 percent and 24 percent increase respectively.
The UAE is the Kingdom’s largest trading partner in the GCC with two-way trade reaching SR7.5 billion followed by Kuwait and Qatar.
